Former Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo has voiced concerns that the country’s various anti-corruption agencies are operating in isolation, failing to collaborate and leverage their collective strengths, thereby undermining their overall impact and effectiveness in combating corruption.
He indicated that all the anti-corruption agencies must be merged to get the best results from them, emphasizing that the establishment of new anti-corruption institutions does not help in the fight against corruption.
“Fruitless and wasteful expenditure denies the citizens the benefit of public funds just as corruption. So we must be reminded about that.”- Daniel Domelevo
Daniel Domelevo’s remark was in response to the tussle between the Economic and Organized Crimes Office and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) over the Cecilia Dapaah money laundering case.
Furthermore, the former Auditor-General noted that the resources used by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to conduct investigations were not individual funds, but rather from public funds, and that the investigation is in the public’s interest.
According to him, any information collected by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) should be made available to other anti-corruption institutions, such as EOCO, to assist them in their work.
“So to keep it away from EOCO, I think that was not right. In fact, when I was in office as the Auditor General, there was a lot of collaboration between the OSP and my office as the office of the Auditor General and we shared a lot of information.”
Daniel Domelevo
He further revealed that, in certain instances, he and the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, took the extraordinary step of personally delivering sensitive information to each other’s offices, bypassing their deputies and staff, to maintain confidentiality and ensure that the information was not compromised.
Mr. Domelevo also emphasized that the practice of withholding information gathered by public institutions, funded by taxpayer money, and duplicating investigations is not only a waste of resources but also a hindrance to effectively combating corruption, as it leads to a lack of coordination and inefficient use of resources.
EOCO Withholds Information
Moreover, Daniel Domelevo disclosed that he had to resort to threatening legal action against EOCO to obtain crucial information, which was initially withheld before the agency finally handed over the data to his office.
As such, he argued that the OSP withholding information from EOCO is sufficient grounds to warrant the dismissal of the case against Cecilia Dapaah.
“Because if I had gone to EOCO and said I suspect Madam Cecelia Dapaah of money laundering, they would have done their investigations. Is that not it? So I think they should have still gone ahead and done their investigations.”
Daniel Domelevo
Mr. Domelevo also expressed disappointment in the Attorney General, stating that, Article 88 of Ghana’s Constitution establishes that the Attorney General has the authority to determine which cases are prosecuted and how they are handled.
He noted that by constitutional mandate, the OSP and EOCO are under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General. He indicated that the Attorney General should have encouraged these entities to work together rather than asking EOCO to discontinue the investigation.
“What information do you need from the OSP? OSP what stops you from providing this information? Please go ahead. He should have mediated and ensured that we brought the information to EOCO and the investigation went ahead.
Daniel Domelevo
As such, the former Auditor General stressed that the lack of collaboration between the OSP and EOCO is detrimental to the national interest and urged that the laws establishing these entities be reviewed and amended to facilitate a merger, ensuring a more cohesive and effective approach to combating corruption. ‘Merging them will save us a lot of money,” he added.
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